I
was shocked by the trenchant reaction to my piece on the July 15 attempted coup
in Turkey from at least two persons. The piece titled “Nigerians and the Failed
Coup in Turkey” (The Guardian, Sunday, July 17) had fetched a mail and
direct messages from a concerned Nigerian who objected to my description of
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a bad guy- an intolerant, arrogant,
temperamental dictator who after July 15 could become even more authoritarian.
The fellow praised Erdogan and spoke glowingly about how well the Turkish
economy has fared under his watch. I also got a list of current economic
indicators on Turkey sent to me.

I assured the fellow that I was not in any way in support of any anti-democratic
move, and that the article was not about the Turkish economy but Erdogan’s
politics and leadership. I added that while he was perfectly entitled to his
admiration of Erdogan, I had no reasons to change my views and that he should
beware of Embassy propaganda. It was a polite, private discussion. But
there was nothing polite about the other reaction that caught my attention. It
was in form of a scurrilous, very badly written press statement titled “Reuben
Abati Should Keep His Stinking Pen” by a so-called Center for Human Rectitude,
posted on Facebook, and signed by one Yusuf Jimoh Aweda, with the pompous title
of a Director.

Aweda’s abusive statement praises Erdogan, defends Turkish Airline, and lists
Erdogan’s achievements as the President of Turkey. I smiled, wondering why
Aweda is yet to relocate to Turkey. Since the failed coup, President Erdogan
has behaved true to prediction. Over 15, 000 persons have been detained in
connection with the coup. More than 140 media houses have been shut down.
Arrest warrants have been issued for about 90 journalists. A total of 934
schools, 15 universities, 104 Foundations, and 35 health institutions have also
been closed down. Over 60, 000 civil servants have been sacked; 50, 000
passports have been cancelled. More than 40% of military chiefs have been
fired. Erdogan obviously has more enemies outside the coup plotters.

Curiously, any foreigner who has tried to criticize or advise the Turkish
government and Erdogan has also been told to mind their business. “Some people
give us advice. They say they are worried. Mind your own business!” says
President Erdogan. As at last week, about 18, 000 persons have been
detained at various times since January, for allegedly insulting President
Erdogan - the victims include a German satirist, a Dutch-Turkish journalist, a
former Miss Turkey and a UK artist. But in what he calls “a one-off gesture of
goodwill”, Erdogan now says he will “withdraw all the cases regarding the
insults made against him.” How magnanimous! Yusuf Aweda certainly knows that it
is “an act of felony” to say anything against President Erdogan, and so, he had
to tell Abati to keep his stinking pen and mind his business. Sorry to
disappoint you, Erdogan lover, your hatchet piece is in the dustbin where it
belongs.

The attempted coup in Turkey stands condemned,
nonetheless, and it is perfectly within the rights of the Turkish government to
fish out the perpetrators and ensure that justice is done, but it seems Erdogan
is personally using this as an opportunity to witch-hunt his perceived enemies
and enforce a form of “political cleansing.”

The official Turkish position is that the brain behind the coup is US-based,
Islamic preacher and writer, Fetullah Gulen, 75, founder of the Alliance for
Shared Values and the Gulen Movement (known as Hizmet Hareketi in
Turkey). Gulen is Erdogan’s arch-rival and nemesis. He has been accused at
various times in the past of trying to topple the Erdogan government in
conspiracy with the American CIA and FBI. Ironically, Erdogan and Gulen were
both friends until they fell out in 2013, and Gulen became a marked target, and
Turkey’s “most wanted man.” He fled to the United States. Erdogan has asked for
his extradition but the Americans do not believe that Gulen, who has spoken
openly against violence, and terrorism, and who is a progressive Muslim, with a
large following in Turkey, is the terrorist Erdogan claims he is. It also does
not matter that both Gulen and the United States promptly condemned the July 15
coup attempt and that US authorities have spoken about how important Turkey is
to the United States.

Erdogan has ordered a witch-hunt of anyone or any institution associated with
the Gulen Movement. Turkish officials, trying to give a dog a bad name to
hang it, refer to the movement as Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), thus
reducing Turkish politics post-July 15 to a contest between two prominent
political rivals.

Erdogan is perhaps the most popular Turkish leader since Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, and the people of Turkey who are opposed to the crazy act of
July 15 have every reason to be angry, but even in identifying and punishing
the culprits, basic standards of justice and fairness must be met, and whatever
allegations made must be proven to be true and correct. This is important
not just for Turkey but also the rest of the world, as the Turkish inquisition
against Fetullah Gulen and associates has assumed an international dimension,
with countries like Nigeria now involved.

Nigeria has been mentioned twice in the Turkish drama. First, it was the
Nigerian bank, the United Bank for Africa (UBA). Second, the reference
was to Turkish schools and institutions in Nigeria. With regard to the former, US
General John F. Campbell (rtd), a former Commander of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, was said to have
channelled over $2 billion to the coup plotters in Turkey as part of a
CIA operation, through the UBA. The bank has denied any form of involvement but
the Turkish authorities will expect an investigation. Nigerian laws do
not support terrorism in any shape. But could any Nigerian bank have moved $2
billion in the last six months without the Central Bank knowing?

Besides, the Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, has formally asked the
Nigerian government to shut down 17 schools and other institutions in Nigeria
allegedly associated with the Gulen Movement. YeniSafak News, a
pro-government Turkish newspaper was in fact categorical in its headline:
“Turkish envoy seeks closure of Gulen schools in Nigeria” (July 29). But are
they really Gulen schools? Interestingly, some Nigerian newspapers reported
that Turkey has “ordered” the Nigerian Government to close down some schools!
Can an Ambassador or any country give orders to the Nigerian government?

Hakan Cakil says: “We
are starting some legal procedures to take the name 'Turkish' out of the name
of the schools," he added. “They are not the schools of the Turkish
government. According to the ambassador, there are other establishments run by
the Gulen group in Nigeria such as hospitals. He said all the FETÖ-linked
bodies raised funds that were used to further the group's interests.” Is
this evidence-based? Evidence, please!

Nigeria has cordial relations with Turkey. Diplomatic protocol requires
Nigeria, in the face of a formal complaint as stated, to look into the
allegations. Besides, Nigeria frowns at terrorism and so it would be expected
to act on the request from Turkey. As a member of the Organization of Islamic
Co-operation (OIC), Nigeria may also soon find itself confronted with a draft
resolution that formally designates FETO as a terrorist organization, and
Fetullah Gulen as a terrorist. The only problem is that it is only the
Erdogan government and its supporters who are referring to the Gulen Movement
as a terrorist organization. I urge caution. Nigeria must resist the temptation
to join the solidarity bandwagon. It must conduct its own investigations and
insist on credible evidence.

The Turkish authorities have also appealed to other countries to close down
businesses, schools and other institutions that may be in any way associated
with the Gulen Movement. Some of the countries promptly obliged. Jordan,
Azerbaijan, Somalia, Niger, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, have
shut down many schools so labeled claiming the need to act in solidarity with
Turkey and promote bilateral relations. A similar request has also been tabled
before Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Turkey’s position is that the Gulen Movement or what they call FETO uses
education to conscientize young people, globally, to prepare them to become
anti-state elements, and that Gulen’s strategy is to infiltrate all sectors of
Turkey and go beyond to build an international network. The insistence that the
cleric is a terrorist will obviously be of grave interest to the international
community, terrorism being the scourge of the moment. Still, we should
not act based on Turkey’s say-so, in the name of solidarity. A proper
understanding of the political sub-text to the Turkish drama recommends this as
the best option in the circumstances.

For the record, the proprietors of the Nigerian Turkish International
Colleges have fought back dismissing the request by the Turkish Ambassador as
“spurious, baseless, unfounded, of poor taste and a display of crass
ignorance.” They insist that the “NTIC is not a Turkish government-run
institution but a privately funded institution by a group of Turkish
investors.” What can be said is that these investors who have built 17
schools in Nigeria, a university (The Nigerian Turkish Nile University -1998)
and a hospital (The Nigerian Turkish Nizamiye Hospital, Abuja- 2013) have done
more to promote good people-to-people relations between Nigeria and Turkey than
all the diplomats ever posted to Nigeria from Turkey.

They have promoted international friendship and helped to build the Turkish
brand among the Nigerian consumers of the high quality services that they
offer. More importantly, they do not have any sordid reputation as
terrorist havens, instead they are very popular among Nigerians. From a
strategic viewpoint, we need such investments in Nigeria and should not
jeopardize the interest of many Nigerian students (who enjoy scholarships in
those schools by the way) and the many middle-class patients who rather than
travel abroad take advantage of the quality services at the Turkish hospital in
Abuja. What we may well be dealing with is blackmail, not terrorism, given what
we know. Erdogan should by all means look for his coup plotters, but he
should not shut down Nigerian schools and institutions. Having stayed for so
long in power, he is definitely guilty of what Fetullah Gulen calls “power
poisoning”. Yusuf Aweda, chew on that and drink water on top!